Chili can be an intensely personal thing. Some people like it so hot their nose hairs spontaneously combust. Some people are so spice averse that their perfect chili tastes more like a mild pizza sauce with ground beef in it. Finding a chili that can appeal to all is not easy, especially when you are the only spice lover in a house full of pizza sauce lovers.

This recipe makes a rich, hearty, flavorful ground beef chili (with NO beans), that is not too spicy for the palates of my wife and four-year-old, but tastes good as it is. A chili lover could eat it grudgingly without losing their faith in mankind. But the best part is that the flavors are balanced so it makes a great starting point for creating your own bowl of heaven.

Imagine throwing a chili party with a "Doctor Your Own Chili" bar. You don't just put out onions, crackers, and cheese. You put out a selection of hot sauces for people to stir in, some sour cream, some sliced pickled jalapenos, maybe some carrots pickled in the jalapeno pickling liquid, and definitely some chicharrones (pork cracklins - like pork rinds, but smaller, denser, and fattier). Let everyone mix up a bowl to their tastes, and you'll find that your gueests all along the spice spectrum will enjoy themselves.

Personally, tonight I mixed up a bowl with some Sriracha and some chicharrones. I was in heaven.

Beware, this recipe is on the large size. I like to cook big pots of chili. You can cut it down.

Blank Canvas Chile

5 large red onions, diced
5 pounds lean ground beef
28 ounce can tomatillos, drained
2 quarts chicken or beef stock (beef is better, but chicken works)
4 slices thick-cut bacon
3 fresh jalapeno peppers
3 tbs cider vinegar
3 tbs ground cumin
2 tbs granulated garlic
2 tbs ground coriander
2 tbs ground chile california
1 tbs black pepper
1 tbs salt
1 tbs granulated onion
2 tsp dried oregano

1 bunch cilantro, stemmed and chopped
1/2 cup masa (corn flour used for tortillas and tamales)

A little achiote powder if you're using chicken stock.

Chop all the onions. Make sure to crack a window or turn on the exhaust fan in the kitchen or everyone in the house will start tearing up by the time you're done.

Halve your jalapenos, remove the seeds and ribs. Dice one half and toss it in with the onions. The other 2.5 jalapenos get a rough chop and go in the blender/processor with the drained tomatillos the three ounces of cider vinegar, and a pinch of kosher salt to make a very piquant salsa verde.

Chop your 4 slices of bacon and render them in the cook pot over medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon and reserve for later. Begin sauteeing the 5 onions and diced half-jalapeno in the lovely, tasty bacon grease.

Once the onions have softened a bit, toss in your spices and stir in with the onions, cooking for another minute or two until everything gets fragrant. Pour in the tomatillo salsa you made and stir it in, letting it help deglaze the pot a bit. Add your stock.

Bring this mixture up to a low boil and then add the raw ground beef. Instead of stirring it in with a spoon, spend the next couple of minutes attacking it with a potato masher. This distributes the meat throughout the broth, giving it maximum broth contact and vice versa, so they can marry their flavors. Just be gentle. You're trying to break up the meat so you get a great ground beef texture with no big clumps, not mash it into a paste.

Bring the mixture up to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Uncover, sprinkle in the masa, stirring as you go. This will tighten up the chili, like adding corn starch, but it gives it a much more authentic flavor and texture. Throw the chopped bacon back in, throw in the cilantro, stir it all, and let it cook another 5 minutes uncovered. If you used beef stock, you've probably got a good brown color, but if you used chicken stock, it may look a little gray. You can hit it with a teaspoon or two of the achiote powder to add a little red to the color and make it more appetizing.

Take it off the heat, give it a stir, and let it sit uncovered, cooling, for 20-30 minutes.

After that, eat it straight, or play mad scientist with various condiments. When you start with a chili this basically good, there are all sorts of great ways you can jazz it up.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 at 1:56 am and is filed under Cooking & Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.